Rapid Care

Updated 16 March 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The Expert by Experience spoke with people and their relatives.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. The service had not had a registered manager in post for over 12 months. A new manager had been appointed and an application to register with CQC had been submitted.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 11 January 2023 and ended on 20 January 2023. We visited the location’s office on 11 and 17 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 12 people who used the service and 3 relatives about their experience of the care and support provided by Rapid Care. We also spoke with 9 staff, including the management team and office administrator.

We spoke with the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, were also reviewed.

Updated 16 March 2023

About the service

Rapid Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection 70 older people were receiving this support.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Risks to people’s health, safety and welfare had not been consistently assessed and there was a lack of guidance for staff about how to support people safely. Whilst staff understood how to support people, and had completed regular training, there was a risk new staff may not support people safely.

People were not supported by staff who had been safely recruited. Checks with previous employers had not been consistently completed. Obtaining references from previous employers helps to make sure new staff are safe to work with people.

There was a lack of oversight at Rapid Care. Whilst some checks and audits were being completed, they were not routinely recorded. Shortfalls identified throughout the inspection had not been recognised by the management team.

Accidents and incidents had been recorded and action taken to ensure people were safe. These had been raised with the local authority safeguarding team, however notifications for 2 incidents had not been reported to CQC in line with guidance.

People were supported by staff who understood the potential signs of abuse. Staff felt confident to raise concerns and told us action would be taken to keep people safe.

People told us their care calls were generally on time and they received support from regular carers. People received their medicines on time and as prescribed.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and their relative spoke positively about the care and support they received. They felt listened to and had provided positive feedback in quality assurance surveys. Staff felt valued and supported by the management team.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 9 May 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the recruitment of staff. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe and Well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Rapid Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to risk assessing, recruitment and good governance.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.